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The no-go zone

It’s a good thing that POASY, the union representing police officers, was banned by the head of the Attica Police from having the meeting they were planning in Exarchia Square.

There was a risk that holding such a gathering in that particular location would provoke conflict, and that risk was quite high. It’s well-known these days what the presence of police in the neighborhood leads to.

However, the fact that the meeting there by the police union had to be banned, and mainly for this reason, essentially makes the neighborhood’s classification as a no-go zone official, despite the denials and the excuses often made by the citizens’ protection minister.

It also highlights the deadlock that the current government’s policy of tolerance toward the anti-establishment groups that dominate Exarchia has fostered.

What the state must do is negotiate with these groups in order to designate their geographic borders...